Fence-post



(N0 Modeh) L G. HAASE.

FENCE POST.

NO `368,334. Patented Ag. 1,6I 1887 mu nim Y Illm 'Ff' i] [IIL L@ Memwff@www UNITED STATES PATENT OEricE.,

LEO G. HAASE, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

FENCE-POST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,334, dated August16, 1887.

Application tiled April 2, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, LEO G. HAASE, a citizen ofthe United States, residingat Oak Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in FeneePosts; and I hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact desciiption of the same.

My invention relates to tubular iron posts employed for the purpose ofsustaining barbed "wire, and my improvements consist, iirst, in

the construction which I employ for the wings so called, which are armspivotally connected to the lower portion of the post in such `a way thattheir free ends may be thrown outwaid after driving, and thus serve topre* vent ejection of the post from the ground by frost or other causes;secondly, in the construction whieh I employ for the cap to excludewater from the interior of the post; and, thirdly, in the method which Iemploy for securing and supporting the wire to the post by means ofawire-sustaining stapleinserted into a hole formed in the wall of thehollow post, all as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation, with a small part brokenaway, of a post provided with all my improvements in its condition whendriven into the ground, but before being turned; Fig. 2, an elevation ofthe saine in its condition when driven into the ground and after beingturned; Fig. 3, a central vertical section ot the cap enlarged, and Fig.4 an enlarged perspective View of the lower portion of the post.

A is the metal tube constituting the post, welded to a wedge-shaped partat its lower end, as shown at t.

B B are the wings, each comprising the cylindrical part s, and flattenedpart r at about a right angle with the part s. The wings are attached bydrilling two holes, q q, through the post in the same transverse planeabove the wedge-shaped portion, and nearly in vertical line with theedges of the same, and passing the parts s of the wings through theseholes in opposite directions, whereby the ilattened parts fr arearranged on opposite sides of the post. The parts of each Wing is ofsufficient length to extend beyond the post when passed through thehole, and thus form a bearing for the flat- Scrial No. 126,393. (Nomodel.)

tened part r of the other wing to preveiitthe latter from going below ahorizontal position. In order that the flattened parts r, when broughtdown u pon tlieirbearin gs, as described, shall lie nearly in the sameplane, it is advisable to have them out of center7 with the parts s, asshown at p. After passing the part s of a wing through the hole in thepost, a burr, o, is eut in it on the side of the post opposite the parti' to prevent withdrawal.

The operation of this part of my device 1s as follows: Vhen the post isdriven into the earth, the wings assume a vertical position,and,sincethey follow the grooves formed in the earth. by the edges of the wedge,(which, it will be noted, extend beyond the cylindrical portion of thepost to about the saine extent as the wings) they offer no materialobstruction to the driving. When the post has been driven to therequired distance, it is given a quarterturn or more with a pair ofpipe-tongs or a wrench in the direction of the arrow in Fig. l, theeffect of which is to bring the parts r down to a horizontal position.tion,they rest upon the projecting ends of the parts s, which preventthem from going lower, and thus cause thein to resist any attempt topull the post out of the ground, or any material force tending to ejectit.

Thesecond feature of niyiiivention is clearly shown in detail in Fig. 3.It consists of a cap, C, having formed in it from its lower end anannular flaring groove, n, having a. width great enough to admit theiiietal forming the tube. As an incident to this groove an internalconical frustum, m, is formed, which, for the purpose of economizingmetal, and for a1 iother reason, which will appear furtherlon, ishollowed out at the center, as shown at Z. The frustum m terminates,preferably, above the lower end of the outer wall, 7c, of the cap, andat its lower end is of such diameter as to iit easily within the top ofthe tube. To attach the cap, it is placed over the top of the tube anddriven on with a hammer or mallet. The frustuin m, bein'g driven intothe top of the tube, expands the latter and spreads it out into theilaring groove, whereby the cap is held firmly in place. It is obviousthat the act of driving the post into the ground will have the effectonly of sceurin g the cap still more irml y.

Vhen in this posi- IOC To attach the wires D to the post, I use ordinarystaples, E. These are put over the wire and the ends are then broughttogether, or,by

serted into a hole, it is driven in by means of a hammer, when the endsincidentally spread apart on the inside of the tube, thus preventingwithdrawal. The driving causes the ends to extend a little more widelyapart when crossed than when simply brought near together beforeinsertion; but beyond this slight difference the results are the same.The cap is likewise pro'- vided with a hole, i, to receive a staple andafford a fastening for a top wire. The hollowing out of the frustumpermits this to be done.

A'post provided with all the features above enumerated is believed topossess every necessary qualification. The diiferent features may,however, be used separately. For example, the staples may be used tofasten the wires to any fencepost formed of thin metal, whether tubularor not, and with the tubular post above described the cap may be omittedand the ends welded shut in the manner common with ordinaryheater-tubes.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isv 1. Incombination with a tubular fence-post having holes g through it near itslower end, the wings B, each comprising an axial part, s,

having a length greater than the diameter of the post,and a flattenedpart, r, forming nearly or quite a right angle with the part s, saidwings being attached to the post by passing the parts s in contrarydirections through the holes q, whereby the turning of the postin the`ground brings the part fr of each wing down upon the projecting end ofthe part s of the other, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the tubular post A, made wedge-'shaped at itslower end, and provided with two holes, q, through it in transverse lineabove the wedge, the wings B, each comprising the axial part s, andilattened part 1', forming a right angle with the part s and out ofcenter with the same, said parts s passing in contrary directionsthrough the holes q and being' secured against withdrawal by a burr, o,formed on the projecting end of each, substantially as described.

3. The cap for closing the end of the tube A, consisting of VVa metalbody having formed'in it a fiaring annular groove, n, of a size at its-open end to receive the end of the tube A,

whereby the driving on of the cap expands the tube and causes it tospread out in the groove, and thus'hold the cap in place, substantiallyas described.

4. The cap C, for closing the end of the tube A', having the annularflaring groove n and central recess, Z, substantially as described.

5. The method herein described of applying and securing to a hollowmetal fence-post the wire-sustaining staple, which consists in forming ahole through the shell of the post,

vinserting both points of the staple into the said hole, and forcing thestaple farther inby a blow upon its head, whereby the points are causedto spread apart without the use of a separate spreading medium,substantially as set forth.

LEO G. HAASE. In presence of DOUGLAS DYRENFORTH, H. ANDERsoN.

